BIRD-LIFE IN FIELD AND HEDGEROW. 129 



four distinct pairs breeding in the fields, within 

 eight minutes' walk of the centre of Paignton, 

 and are so familiar with the bird and its character- 

 istic note, that we never regard either one or 

 the other with any special attention. It is a 

 bird that may be very easily overlooked, especially 

 during summer, when the trees and hedgerows 

 are thick with foliage ; but in winter, when the 

 branches are bare and leafless, it readily comes 

 under the notice of any one competent to identify 

 it. Several winters ago, during long-continued 

 frost and snow, the Cirl Bunting came on several 

 occasions to pick up seed scattered in our back- 

 garden. We have never noticed anything to 

 suggest an arrival of migrant Cirl Buntings in 

 the county ; and indeed the extra British range 

 of the species is such that we should not expect 

 to do so. Like the Sky-Lark, this Bunting 

 is fond of high ground, though by no means 

 exclusively so. 



Our hedgerows are also a paradise for Titmice. 

 All the common British species frequent them ; 

 and it is no rare thing to see three or four species 

 practically in company. We ascribe the abund- 

 ance of these birds to the plentiful food-supply 



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